Delta Air Lines claims that it’s bringing back a transpacific flight in 2025, though I wouldn’t necessarily count on it. I first wrote about this a couple of days ago, but wanted to provide an update, as this flight is now on sale, so the schedule is also published.
Delta’s LAX to PVG route to resume in June 2025
Before the pandemic, Delta operated a flight between Los Angeles (LAX) and Shanghai (PVG). That was of course cut at the start of the pandemic.
Flights between the United States and China have been slow to return. Initially that was due to the huge limitations on frequencies between the countries. However, the bigger issue is that demand just hasn’t returned, so even the available slots haven’t been fully utilized. Traffic between the two countries is just a fraction of what it was pre-pandemic.
In 2023, Delta announced plans to resume flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai as of March 2024. The launch date for that was postponed multiple times, with the eventual plan being a route resumption in October 2024. However, prior to the route resuming, Delta fully removed the flight from the schedule, suggesting there was no imminent return for the service.
There’s now an update — Delta claims that as of June 2025, it will resume 3x weekly service between Los Angeles and Shanghai, using the Airbus A350-900. According to what’s now bookable, the 6,485-mile flight will launch on June 1, and will operate with the following schedule:
DL39 Los Angeles to Shanghai departing 11:25AM arriving 4:05PM (+1 day)
DL38 Shanghai to Los Angeles departing 6:20PM arriving 3:45PM
The westbound flight is scheduled to operate on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and is blocked at 13hr40min, while the eastbound flight is scheduled to operate on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and is blocked at 12hr25min.
So is it possible the route resumes in June 2025? Absolutely. Would I bet on it? Absolutely not, given that Delta has made a similar announcement in the past, but backtracked.
For what it’s worth, Delta currently serves Shanghai out of both Detroit (DTW) and Seattle (SEA), with up to daily frequencies in each market.
With the current schedule, United offers the most capacity between the United States and Shanghai, as the airline flies one daily flight from San Francisco (SFO) and one daily flight from Los Angeles (LAX), on higher capacity jets than Delta.
United resumed the Los Angeles to Shanghai route as of August 2024. Based on current schedule filings, United also plans to resume a second daily Shanghai flight out of San Francisco as of March 2025. Meanwhile American is of course in last place, with daily flights from Dallas (DFW).
LAX is a tricky international market for US airlines
Los Angeles is a market where all of the “big three” US carriers have a significant network, yet no airline has a dominant presence. We’ve seen all three US carriers try their hand at expanding service there, with limited success, with routes constantly being added and removed again.
Based on where things currently stand, I do think United has the dominant position, but even United has canceled some service there.
United’s long haul international destinations out of Los Angeles include Hong Kong (HKG), London (LHR), Melbourne (MEL), Shanghai (PVG), Sydney (SYD), and Tokyo (HND & NRT), on a year-round basis. The airline also used to fly to Auckland (AKL) and Brisbane (BNE), but has axed those routes.
Meanwhile Delta’s long haul international destinations out of Los Angeles include Paris (CDG), Sydney (SYD), and Tokyo (HND), on a year-round basis, as well as Auckland (AKL), Brisbane (BNE), and Tahiti (PPT), on a seasonal basis. We’ve seen Delta handed its London (LHR) service to Virgin Atlantic, while the Auckland service has gone from year-round to seasonal. Personally I’d be surprised if both the Auckland and Brisbane service stick around in the long run.
Bottom line
Delta claims that it will resume its Los Angeles to Shanghai route as of June 2025, though the airline hasn’t yet given an exact launch date, or announced a schedule. If the route does resume, it’s expected to be operated by an A350 with 3x weekly frequencies. Delta otherwise flies to Shanghai out of both Detroit and Seattle.
I’m curious to see if this route actually ends up launching, since it’s not the first time that Delta has made such an announcement, only to delay the launch. The market between the United States and China is tricky nowadays, and I don’t blame airlines for not bringing back more capacity.
What do you make of Delta’s Shanghai flight updates?
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